Biting guitar riffs, killer harmonies with drums and bass holding down the lower end and delivering the punch to augment the songs rather than over power them. This album is all over the place and we mean that in a good way. The Mothership follows no tired and sometimes worn out formulas, they test the waters, first by dipping their toes in and when it feels right they take the plunge and deliver the goods in an epic way.

The Bright Side Of Dim with a release date of March 28, 2014, is a 14 song thrill ride by one of Seattle’s most talented ensembles. Their bio states that the motivation behind The Mothership was borne from a communal dissatisfaction with their collective experiences in the local music scene and a passion to write songs drenched in melody and harmony. Well we’d say they accomplished that, again. The last album Ten Miles Wide was great and this one is even better. This band seems satisfied to play within the pocket together rather than duel and try to outplay each other. What transpires is nothing short of audio excellence.

The album tastefully starts out with a brief eastern influenced intro and instantly makes the listener wonder what is coming next leading into an drum filled up-tempo tune called “Special Release Japanese B-Side”. On the short(1:59) but powerful ballad “Twitching”, the band further demonstrates that they are part of the elite class of northwest musicians. The acoustic guitar work is flawless and Johndus’ vocals are spot on. The next song is “Orb” and it is a blistering guitar driven rocker with haunting harmonies that sort of hits you over the head after being psychedelically lulled into some cosmic wasteland by the previous song. Very legit stick work by Will Andrews adds a lot to this one.

“Piranha Piñata” is a filthy retro rocker that would have worked just as well on a turntable in a weed-smoke filled room circa 1972 as well as it does today. This is the kind of music we need in 2014, more please. The upbeat “Slippy” will remind the listener of Queens Of The Stone Age and they pulled this one off masterfully.

This album is absolutely solid with top-shelf production and superior musicianship. Make no mistake, this isn’t just 14 songs randomly thrown together. Each song seems to set up the next and then takes you somewhere completely different than the last one. Headphones are highly recommended as well, there’s a lot going on that might get missed without them. This is a long album but it seems short at the same time. There isn’t a weak track on here and for us this is as good as music gets.

Revered contemporary singer-songwriter Amos Lee will be making an appearance at the Paramount Theatre on Saturday, November 19, 2016. Amos Lee just released his new single “Vaporize,” which is available via all major digital retailers. The single […]